The Process

The process begins with an encounter. Chairs appear through sidewalks, estate sales, antique dealers, online listings, and private owners. Conversations form the first archive. Stories, uncertainties, memories, and circumstances of acquisition become part of the record.

Newly acquired chairs do not enter the studio immediately. They remain at the threshold, in storage at the edge of the workspace. Interest develops through distance. Some chairs remain there for months. Some never enter the studio at all.

A chair enters the studio when it continues to stand out from the others. The object brings with it accumulated history: dust, odors, wear, repairs, and traces of previous lives. This is the most intense phase. The chair occupies the studio both physically and mentally.

The chair is photographed and documented as found. Upholstery is removed by retracing its construction in reverse, layer by layer. Hidden structures, repairs, markings, signatures, and modifications are revealed. Research and physical investigation proceed together. As the chair is cleaned, the intensity begins to relax. Dirt that obscures information is removed, while evidence that explains the chair is preserved. The goal is clarity, not restoration.

The surviving evidence is studied. Dimensions are compared, recurring relationships identified, and the original design intent inferred. Acrylic elements are developed as a hypothesis of the chair's true form.

The intervention returns function while remaining visibly distinct from the artifact. The chair leaves the studio and re-enters the world. Its history does not end with the intervention, but continues through future use, repair, adaptation, and care.